PSU Issues Ultimatum to Government Over Tax Department Crisis

The clock is ticking for the Government of Belize. The Public Service Union has given them until October 3rd to respond to serious concerns about plans to transform the Belize Tax Services Department into a Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authority; basically, a statutory body run by a board of directors. The union says staff were left out of the process and morale is at a crisis point. We’re talking over seventy transfer requests and more than a dozen resignations already on the table. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Dean Flowers, President of the PSU, emphasized the lack of response to the union’s position paper submitted in August, which highlighted critical issues regarding efficiency, costs, and staff welfare. The union says this transition has been anything but transparent or inclusive, and if the government fails to respond by the deadline, it will call a general meeting of members to decide the next course of action. We spoke with Dean Flowers, who stressed the severity of the situation and its potential impact on the department and public services.

 

Zenida Lanza, Reporting

Last Friday, PSU President Dean Flowers fired off a letter to the Prime Minister, demanding answers on the union’s position paper, a document that’s been sitting unanswered for weeks. In that letter, Flowers gave government an October third deadline and, to drive the point home, he attached seventy-two transfer requests from employees at the Belize Tax Services Department. His message was that these workers have, quote, ‘lost faith in its leadership.’

 

Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union

“The employees are not happy. They’re not pleased. Their morale is extremely low. It is really bad. And when you see people that have a decade or decades of experience wanting to leave something that they’ve done. Over the last 20 years, or last 10 years, or last 15 years? Man, it says a lot. It says a lot about the leadership. It says a lot about the environment.”

 

Flowers says the union is not opposed to the transition itself but emphasizes that it must be a statutory body that serves the public, instead of one that drains resources or risks political influence. He adds that there has been little to no consultation with employees or their legal representative, the Public Service Union, as required by law.

 

Dean Flowers

“We understand that there are draft legislation in place. We have not seen such draft legislation. Any employer that wishes to engage in an open, transparent and inclusive matter manner would ensure that from day one, the workers and the representative is brought into the process that we are able to provide input as to how to make the proposed department more efficient.”

 

Though a consultancy group has reached out regarding the transition, Flowers maintains its right to negotiate directly with the Government of Belize.

 

Dean Flowers

“Under my leadership in the Public Service Union, I can saw that we will hold them accountable. We may not always get the end results that we desire. But at the end of the day, we will ruffle feathers to get responses to our questions, and we will not be bullied.”

 

A semi-autonomous revenue authority, Flowers warns, could double current administrative and overhead costs for Belizeans. With plans to increase staff and salaries, questions remain about how these expenses will be balanced against projected revenues.

 

Dean Flowers

“ This is a matter of national importance and for all those Belizeans who currently have a child on scholarship, for all those Belizeans who seek health services from public health hospitals, albeit they complaint how terrible it is, a failed SARA. A failed BTSD could mean that it’ll only get worse when trying to seek healthcare. For all those villages and communities, whether urban or rural, that are complaining about how bad the roads are, it could only get worse if there’s a failed BTSD or a failed SARA.”

 

Now, the Public Service Union is pushing the government to involve them in the transition to a statutory body. Stating the issue goes beyond employee resignations and mass transfer requests. Reporting for News Five, I’m Zenida Lanza.